Fall Sports Injuries

It is November and no matter where you look there is a sport event around every corner whether it is local, state, or national. Many of us will be participating in one or more of these sports. Why is (insert your favorite sport here) America’s favorite pastime? The endorphins have us all hooked. Competition feeds your adrenals to excrete hormones culminating in the increase in testosterone. Yes- Men and Women can benefit from active and passive participation (all ages apply). There is an increase socialization and community surrounding these events. These areas lead to the same thing: YOUTH or Cellular Regeneration. The more cortisol and testosterone rejuvenate, the more it heals and repairs your body!

Whether you are competing against other teams or just competing with yourself, sports have been known to cause injuries. What can you do to help yourself? Train- Train- Train. Elite athletes are always working on keeping their body in shape. They should- it is their fulltime job. Weekend warriors still need to train. The good news is even other types of physical activity will benefit your game. The stronger your body is in both type of muscle tissue the more resilient you will be if and when you get injured.

No one wants to be hurt. Just like planning for success, you can plan for your injury. How do you do this? If you consider a problem and have a plan to manage that problem your outcomes will be better. It has been proven in multiple disciplines especially when it comes to sport activities.

The most common injuries are soft tissue trauma: skin, muscle, fat, lymphatics and tendons can all be torn. They can also be repaired. A simple petrolatum product or bandage on your skin will heal in days. If you bleed, you quite possibly need stitches. Your body can repair torn muscles as well. Muscle training keeps the tissue engaged to handle that rapid repair. Tendons are tougher to heal because the lack the same blood supply that the first to have. Injury involving this are classified as: First stage a stretch with microscopic tears but overall intact. You will experience swelling and tenderness but there is no limitation. The second a more extensive injury involving an incomplete tear of the ligament and you can have moderate pain, swelling tenderness and bruising. A grate 3 sprain involves a complete tear of the ligament. Severe pain, swelling, tenderness and bruising can all occur because of the torn ligament. However, this time there is instability of the joint with loss of function. These unfortunate individuals cannot even bear weight.

You may not be able to control the situation that caused the injury but you can condition yourself. It has been shown in all types of literature that muscle and bone strength training limit the severity of the injury.

Regardless of your type of injury, it is frustrating. You have to stop what you are doing. Your hormones decline and the emotions change. The process… seeing the physician… wearing a splint or worse, having to have surgery. Limitations on your lifestyle. Loss of patience with yourself or others while your body repairs itself. This time is important. Complete restoration of this tissue is important. It may not be to first injury that is a problem. If you have a second or third injury it can be life altering. Moral of the story: don’t rush back too soon. Take time and heal right the first time and then you can come back strong.

What you can do is supplement: Remember the trifecta: Vitamin C, Green Tea and Vitamin E are the key ingredients to tissue repair while mitigating the inflammation in the skin. For the rest: Co Q10 every other day, Vitamin C daily, Glucosamine daily or twice a day will all help other areas. Don’t forget the fats. Ste ric acid and linoleic acid are found in Butter (real cow milk type not from corn), Olive oil, Flax oil, Canola oil.